While adverts for the Echo represent owners calling out to Alexa with a request or question — “Alexa, what is the time?”, “Alexa, order me a pizza”, “Alexa, how do you get red wine out of the carpet?” — any digital maker using the free API from the Amazon Developer team had to include a button within their build, putting a slight dampener on the futuristic vibe of the disembodied Alexa. (We know about this dampening effect, because a bunch of you complained vocally about it.)

With the update removing the press-a-button limitation, anyone using the AVS can now ‘wake’ Alexa with a ‘wake word’, calling out to Alexa, Echo, or Amazon. Thankfully, at least in my household, this choice of wake word means the device won’t be listening whenever anyone calls my name.

Winners of the challenge received various awards including Amazon vouchers, Echos, and trophies. A full list of winners can be seen here, but we thought you’d like to see some of the most noteworthy builds, like Roxie the Voice-Activated Pitching Robot by Terren Peterson:

Coffee Machine: Amazon Alexa & Raspberry Pi, my Internet of Voice project. If you want to develop a project like this, read the following site for instructions: https://www.hackster.io/bastiaan-slee/coffee-machine-amazon-alexa-raspberry-pi-cbc613

One thing I’m looking forward to is integrating the AVS into situations where hands-free truly is the only option. Not only will we begin to see an increase of Alexa-pimped cars, bikes, and drones, but I also see great advances in the use of the service for those with accessibility issues, such as those with mobility concerns or visual impairments. The Smart Cap, winner of the Intermediate Alexa Skill Set category, is a great example. Get in touch if you create something yourself!

Excellent article. I wonder if it is possible to let Alexa to start a ‘conversation’. I see a possible truly useful addition to a home monitoring demo i am developing to let Alexa ask a person in the house if he needs help.

Is it possible to use any on the skills? I got it on the raspberry pi running nice using a webcam for microphone but can’t seem to get Jamie Oliver and Telegraph skills to work. Any help would be greatly appreciated?

Do I still need a hat I think it’s called on the gpio pins for Alexa to work because I want to create home automation but I want to include voice recognition in the project I was going to use Steven hicksons one but you can’t use google for it.

The first one you’ll start is the Alexa Web Service:
1. Type in cd ~/Desktop/alexa-avs-sample-app/samples and press Enter.
2. Type in cd companionService && npm start and press Enter.

TERMINAL 2:

Open up a second Terminal window (File > New Window). This next step runs a Java app and launches a web browser that registers your Pi-powered Echo with the Alexa web service.
1. In your new Terminal window type in cd ~/Desktop/alexa-avs-sample-app/samples and press Enter.
2. Type in cd javaclient && mvn exec:exec and press Enter.
3. A window will pop up asking you to authenticate your device. Click Yes. This opens up a browser window. A second pop-up will appear in the Java app asking you to click Ok. Do not click this yet.
4. Log into your Amazon account in the browser.
5. You’ll see an authentication screen for your device. Click Okay. Your browser will now display “device tokens ready.”
6. You can now Click the Ok pop-up in the Java app.

TERMINAL 3:
Finally, open a third Terminal window (File > New Window). Here, you’ll start the wake word engine. This makes it so you can say “Alexa” to make your Raspberry Pi start listening to you. You have two options for wake word software, Sensory and KITT.AI. Both are free, but Sensory expires after 90 days, so let’s use KITT instead:
1. Type in cd ~/Desktop/alexa-avs-sample-app/samples and press Enter.

I have installed Apache web server on raspberry Pi, used dataplicity to get a URL to expose the server over internet, made use of IFTTT to send a web request whenever alexa receives a trigger word and controlled the GPIO’s using a php script and wiringpi.

All of the above using a single raspberry pi running alexa engine too. Hope this helps